VIRAL SUPREME CROISSANTS WITH CORNFLAKE PASTRY CREAM
Have you heard of the viral Supreme Croissants from Lafayette Grand Cafe and Bakery in NYC, where the croissants are spiral in shape, filled with a luscious pastry creme, topped with a ganache and further toppings?! Well, I have not tried them, but heard a ton about these viral croissants.
As quoted by Tasting Table, Lafayette Pastry Chef Scott Cioe and Head Boulanger James Belisle wanted to reimagine the classic chocolate croissant. The invention went through several evolutions before arriving at the final form that would take NYC foodies by storm. In my opinion this creation is brilliant, and is so visually appealing!
After all the training that I have had in Laminated doughs, from SF Cooking School, that unfortunately closed down in the pandemic, I had to create these viral croissants!
I took the lessons from the laminated dough class, and learnt on my own as to how to get the perfect spiral for these croissants, and also how to get them perfectly flat once baked, and crispy too at the same time. It has taken me a lot of European butter and dough, and arm muscle strength to go through, to learn the tips and tricks for laminated dough.
Even though you learn it in the class, unless you practice it at home on your own, in your own kitchen, you will never understand the intricacies of this simple yet complex/therapeutic process, that is truly a calming influence – atleast for me!
French pastries take time and effort, and a lot of love. If you have a weekend of free time, and you want to experiment and learn something new, this is a great activity to learn and pursue, and finally get rewarded with flakey, buttery, gooey, perfect pastries!
Key equipment for Lamination
The key equipment for lamination are:
- Bench scraper : I dont think I have used any kitchen tool more than I use the bench scraper! It is a MUST when laminating dough.
- Rolling pin : Use a rolling pin, one that you are comfortable with, and is easy to work with. You need a fat, even rolling pin, to evenly roll out the dough.
- Wide haired brush : This is used to brush off excess flour from the dough, during the process.
- 2 feet stainless steel ruler: Again your best friend for lamination. It helps to measure out the dough, and get an idea as to how many of any pastry you can make.
- Pastry brush : for brushing the egg wash and the simple syrup on the pastries, before and after baking.
- Five-wheel stainless steel pastry cutter : This is not a must but a good to have. It is a useful tool to get even cuts. I love using it to create pie lattices, or even danishes, or as I used here to create the supreme croissants.
Butter block
We start off with the simple European butter. It is important to use European butter because it has higher fat content than the US butter and it JUST makes better, flakier French pastries! It is creamier, richer and flavorful than the US counterpart. I have always used Plugra butter. I go through several butter chunks, since french pastries use a lot of buttah!
The key is to create a butter block that is smooth, even and an 8×8 inch square. I cut the butter into rectangles, horizontally, lengthwise, and place it in a tetris format between two parchment papers. Then you have to pound it with a rolling pin, and straighten it out with a bench scraper to get straight edges.
Once you get your desired size, pack the butter properly so that the fridge smells do not get into it until ready to use. You can make the butter block a few days in advance too.
You can find the YouTube video here: How to make Supreme Croissants like at Lafayette Bakery! Episode 1: Let’s make the butter block! – YouTube
How I have outlined the recipe
I have outlined the recipe into different days, and what one can do on which day. The recipe itself is very detailed, and I do not want to spell it out in the blog post as well as how to make the croissants. I will however give you the important tips and tricks necessary to be successful in the process.
Day 1:
Make the Pastry Cream, which is the filling for the croissants. The cream needs to chill- and set in the fridge.
Make the butter block.
Make the Brioche Dough. The dough is the easiest. It is simply like a brioche dough, with bread flour, butter, eggs, whole milk, yeast, sugar and salt. The most important tip for making the brioche dough is the Window Pane test. After kneading the dough in the stand mixer, you want to do the windowpane test.
The test is to take a piece of dough, stretch it between the first three fingers including your thumb of both hands, and see if it breaks. You should be able to sort of “see through” the dough. If it breaks then that means that you need to knead more and the gluten has not developed properly. Repeat the test after kneading for 1 to 2 more minutes.
Then you have to let the dough rest in the fridge overnight, to be ready to make the turns the next Day.
Day 2:
The first tip is to have all the equipment near you at all times.
Keep a clean work surface.
If it is hot where you live, turn on the AC. You need a cool temperature for the lamination to work!
First Turn: I always find the first turn the hardest, because 1) The dough is still stretchy, so it needs to be cold, and you have to stretch it out at the corners, because you are aiming to get a rectangular shape for the dough 2) you are enclosing the big brick of butter in between dough, securing it, and rolling it out so that the butter is evenly distributed, that too with the muscle of your arms!
Straighten out the dough at all times with the bench scraper and the rolling pin. Use both these pieces of equipment a lot to help you keep the rectangle shape. Work steady but fast, since you want the dough and butter to stay cold at all times.
The minute you feel that you are not getting enough control of the dough, place the dough on a baking tray with parchment paper, and place it in the fridge for half an hour, for the dough to chill again. This will help you gain a better control on the dough.
Once you stretch it out to the desired size, fold it per the recipe. Straighten it out with the bench scraper, place it on a baking tray with parchment paper and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour to chill.
You can find the YouTube Video here: Episode 2: brioche dough, butter block addition, first turn – making Supreme Croissants! – YouTube
Second Turn: The second turn gets easy. The dough is more pliable and workable. You start getting a hang of it. Even though it is still an arm workout. Again the bench scraper, and the rolling pin are your best friends. You are trying to make a dough-butter-dough-butter layer in each turn, so that when the end product is baked, the butter enclosed between layers, melts, and creates an air pocket between the dough, and creates the flakey layers!
It is truly a therapeutic process, and really makes me feel very calm. You will again fold the dough as per the recipe, place it on a baking tray with parchment paper and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
Third Turn: The same process as above is repeated.
You can find the YouTube video here: Episode 3: second and third turn – YouTube
In a bakery, the dough is put through a sheeter, and the sheeter does the work of thinning out the dough evenly, so that it can be cut into exact shapes, for making the french pastries.
At home, I cut the dough in half, and place the remaining half in the fridge. I work with one half of the dough to make it to 5mm thickness. I cut the piece out into a 13 x 13 inch square so that I can cut out 1 inch strips approximately. I join two strips lengthwise, and roll it neatly to form a spiral.
You want to tuck the corner under the croissant, when baking, so that the end is not left dangling. Repeat for the remaining strips to make 6 spiral croissants.
I place them on a baking tray with parchment paper, with rings around them. The rings were purchased from Amazon and are linked here. They are 4 inch diameter rings, and are 1 inch in height.
Proof, Bake and Fill the Croissant:
Proofing is an important step for pastries. I put the whole tray in proofing bags that I got from Amazon. I put inverted glasses in the tray so that the bag does not touch the pastry. Proofing will ensure that the butter does not leak out of the pastry when baking. The croissant should jiggle and almost double in size. That is when you know it has been proofed.
It should be in a temperature of about 75 degrees, and proof for about 2 to 3 hours.
Once proofed, make sure the brush egg wash on the pastries all over. Remove the ring and put the egg wash, for that golden brown finish.
Bake: When baking, start baking at a higher temperature of 415 degrees for a few minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for the remaining time. The secret to flattened croissants is — Place a baking tray on top of the croissants, not allowing them to puff up. Remove the baking tray about half way through and then let the croissant brown to perfection.
Once out of the oven, place the baking tray again on top because it would have risen slightly and be a bit uneven in shape. Placing the baking tray on top ensures that it flattens again.
Brush simple syrup immediately, while it is hot, so that the croissants get a nice crisp to them. Cool completely.
Fill: Filling the croissants is fun and tricky! I use a piping tip that is used to fill donuts. It is linked here. Fill the piping bag with the cold pastry cream and fill each croissant from atleast the top and the bottom of the spiral croissant. Make sure to apply even and slow pressure. You do not want to overfill.
You can find the YouTube Video here: Episode 4: Supreme Croissants ready!!! – YouTube
Cover the top with the ganache and toppings of your choice. I used a dark chocolate ganache, and freeze dried strawberries and cornflakes to top it off. I was going for the breakfast pastry vibe – with a cornflake cereal pastry cream, strawberries and milk as inspiration!
They are BEST eaten the day off. The next day, simply put them in a toaster oven and then eat them. My family thoroughly enjoyed these croissants and I cannot wait to make it again!
ANOTHER OPTION:
If you want to simply do the turns on Day 2, you can even do the final rolling on Day 3, along with the proofing, baking and filling of the croissants. That way you can get fresh croissants the morning of Day 3. You will have to wake up early on Day 3 to proof the croissants! But I think that is totally worth it!
If you do try this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post!
Hope you enjoyed the detailed recipe and instructions.
XO
Amisha
Supreme Croissants with Cornflake Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- Makes 12 Supreme Croissants
- CORNFLAKES CEREAL PASTRY CREAM
- 11⁄4 cups (300 g) whole milk + additional whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heaped cornflakes
- 3 egg yolks
- 1⁄4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons (21 g) cornstarch
- 1⁄2 teaspoon (3 g) table salt
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- BUTTER BLOCK
- 2 cups + 11⁄2 tablespoons (470 g) cold, unsalted, European-style butter
- DANISH BRIOCHE DOUGH
- 6 cups minus 4 teaspoons (720 g) bread flour
- 1⁄3 cup (65 g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons (12 g) instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) table salt
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons (280 g) whole milk, room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 5 tablespoons (72 g) European-style butter,melted and cooled
- SUGAR SYRUP
- 1⁄4 cup (60 g) water
- 1⁄4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- EGG WASH
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- CHOCOLATE GANACHE
- Refer to Sally's Baking Addiction Chocolate Ganache Recipe
- FILLINGS AND TOPPINGS
- 1 bar Ghirardelli dark chocolate 70%
- 4 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberries
- 4 tablespoons cornflakes
- EQUIPMENT
- Wide rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- 1⁄2 sheet baking sheets
- Bench scraper
- Two-foot stainless steel ruler
- Pastry brush
- Wide-haired brush to brush off excess flour
- Five-wheel stainless steel pastry cutter
- (sharp knife will do)
- 6 4 inch diameter pastry rings
- Piping bag
- Ateco 230 2 7/8" Bismark Metal Piping Tip
Instructions
- DAY 1
- To Make the Pastry Cream
- 1.In a medium bowl, add the milk, and cornflakes. Push it in with a spatula. Soak for about half an hour. Using a sieve, strain the milk, pushing on the cornflakes to release the flavor. Add additional milk to make it 1 ¼ cups.
- 2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the milk, and let it simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
- 3. Set aside a medium bowl with a fine-mesh sieve.
- 4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, salt and sugar, and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes until the mixture is frothy and pale yellow. The mixture should have a ribbon-like consistency.
- 5. Slowly pour half the milk into the mixture, whisking until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
- 6. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Turn the heat on medium and continue to whisk, so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens within 5 minutes.
- 7. Strain the mixture through the sieve into the bowl. Whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth.
- 8. Place plastic wrap onto the pastry cream, so that it does not form a skin.
- 9. Refrigerate overnight.
- To Make the Butter Block
- 1. Cut the chilled butter into rectangular blocks to form an even 7x7 inch square on the center of a sheet of parchment paper. It is like playing Tetris with the butter on the parchment to form a square or a rectangle.
- 2. Cover with another parchment paper and start pounding the butter block with a rolling pin
- until the layer evens out. The goal is to smooth out the butter into an even layer of an 8-by-8- inch butter block.
- 3. Keep measuring after a few poundings to see if it is reaching an 8-inch square butter block. Use a bench scraper to even out the edges, and smoothen out the top. Flip the parchment paper upside down, and use a rolling pin to smooth the butter. Keep pushing the slides to be straight and form a square.
- 4. The whole process takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. The goal is for the butter to remain chilled during the entire time and not softened. If you feel the butter is too soft, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes and form it into a square again.
- 5. Once the square is formed, tuck the parchment paper overhang around the butter block and set it in the fridge overnight.
- To Make the Danish Brioche Dough
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, add all the dry ingredients—bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk to combine.
- 2. Add the milk, eggs, and butter to the mixture. Start the stand mixer at low speed for a minute so the dough can mix together. Increase to medium speed for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and the bowl is clean.
- 3. Mix for another 2 to 3 minutes for the dough to develop gluten and become sturdy.
- 4. Do the windowpane test: Take a small piece of dough, and, using your first three fingers
- and thumb on both hands, gently smooth and stretch the dough until thin. If you can stretch
- the dough without breaking it, the dough has been sufficiently kneaded and the gluten is
- well developed. If it breaks, knead the dough in the mixer for another 1 to 2 minutes and do
- the windowpane test again.
- 5. Place the dough onto a clean surface. Shape into a rectangle, place it on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, cover with a plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
- DAY 2
- To Laminate the Dough
- 1. Keep the stainless-steel ruler, bench scraper, wide-haired brush, extra flour, and rolling pin handy.
- 2. Remove the dough from the fridge. Using extra flour sprinkled on a clean surface and extra flour on the rolling pin, roll out the dough to an 8-by-18-inch rectangle. Keep straightening the sides of the rolled-out dough with the bench scraper and rolling pin to ensure that the rectangular shape is maintained at all times, while at the same time maintaining the thickness of the dough throughout as well. Use extra flour as needed to ensure that the dough does not stick to the surface.
- 3. Remove the butter block from the fridge and place in the middle of the dough. Remove the excess flour from the dough using the wide-haired brush. Wrap the left side over half the butter block, then wrap the right side over the other half of the block. Secure it from the top, bottom, and the middle by pinching the dough together. This is called a classic enclosure. Square out the entire block by using the bench scraper to sort of align all the sides in parallel.
- 4. We will do 3 single turns on the dough to laminate it and to get it ready for making our
- Danishes.
- First Turn
- 5. Sprinkle flour on the work surface. With the open side of the dough-enclosed butter block toward you and the other side facing outward, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened by using the bench scraper and rolling pin and keeping the thickness the same throughout the length of the dough.
- 6. Make sure that you use flour to sprinkle beneath the dough by lifting it with one hand and sprinkling flour with the other. There should always be enough flour sprinkled on the top as well. You want to ensure that your dough does not stick underneath or onto your rolling pin.
- 7. The desired size is 8-by-18 inches. Make sure that the corners are stretched so that they are square as well. You want an even rectangle. You can roll out to 8-by-19 inches and, using a pastry cutter, cut off half an inch from the width of the rectangle to even out the sides. Use the wide-haired brush, to gently remove any excess flour.
- 8. With the length of the rectangle parallel to you, wrap the dough, by folding the left side of the dough two-thirds of the way. Brush off the excess flour using the wide brush and then wrap the right side of the dough over the left side. Again, brush off the excess flour. Straighten out the dough with a bench scraper and the rolling pin to an exact 8-by-18- inch rectangle. Place it on the baking sheet, wrap it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for an hour.
- Second Turn
- 9. With the open edge of the dough toward you and the other open edge facing away from you, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.
- 10. Repeat Steps 6, 7, and 8.
- Third Turn
- 11. With the open edge of the dough towards you and the other open edge facing away from you,roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened, by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.
- 12. Repeat Steps 6, 7, and 8.
- To Cut the Laminated Dough to make Croissants
- 13. Cut the dough horizontally into half. Keep one half on the work surface, and the other half on the baking tray, covered in the fridge. With the open edge of the dough toward you and the other open edge facing away from you, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened, by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.
- 14. Make sure that you use flour to sprinkle beneath the dough, by lifting it with one hand and sprinkling flour with the other. You want to make sure that there is enough flour sprinkled on the top so that your dough does not stick underneath or on the rolling pin, and that the corners are stretched square as well.
- 15. The desired size is 13 x 13 inches, and about 1⁄4 inch (5 mm) thick. You want an even square. Cut off half an inch from the width and the length of the rectangle to even out the sides, using a sharp knife and the stainless-steel ruler. Use the wide-haired brush to brush off the excess flour.
- 16. Using the stainless-steel pastry cutter, and setting it to 1 inch wide, cut strips from the rolled-out dough, lengthwise. Take two strips, place them lengthwise, pinch the open ends in the middle to form one long strip. Start rolling from the end towards you, slowly and tight, keeping it aligned till you reach the top.
- 17. Take the end and tuck it underneath.
- 18. Place it 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap. Repeat for the remaining strips. Place the 4 inch rings centered around each croissant. You will get 6 croissants from one half of the dough. Bake 6 croissants at a time.
- 19. Repeat the process for the remaining half of the dough to get 6 more croissants.
- Proof, Bake and Fill the Croissant
- 1. To proof the croissants: To proof, put a large plastic bag or an unscented garbage bag over the baking sheet, sealing the tray. Make sure that the bag does not touch the danish by putting inverted glasses on the tray inside the bag on the four corners of the tray to hold it up. Leave the tray in a warm place (temperature of 75oF) for about 2 to 3 hours, until d
- 2. To make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar. On medium heat, let the sugar dissolve for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool.
- 3. To make the egg wash: Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk for 2 minutes
- until the mixture is smooth.
- 4. To bake the croissants: Preheat the oven to 415oF. Remove the ring, dip the pastry brush into the
- egg wash, removing excess, and lightly brush on the border and sides of each croissant. Spray baking spray on the bottom of the baking sheet. This will prevent the croissants sticking to the bottom of the sheet. Place the baking sheet on top of the croissants. Place the baking sheet in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375oF and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove the top baking sheet after 10 minutes. Rotate the sheets after about 15 minutes for an even bake.
- 5. To decorate the danishes: When the croissants come out of the oven, use the baking sheet, and cover the croissants with it, by putting something heavy on the sheet, for 5 minutes. This will compress the croissant. Next remove the rings, and use a pastry brush to apply the simple syrup all over to give them a nice shine and crunch after cooling.
- 6. Place pastry cream in a piping bag, fitted with the icing piping tip.
- 7. Once cooled, using the tip, insert into the croissant from the side into the middle and gently fill the pastry cream. Repeat from the opposite corner.
- 8. Melt the chocolate in a microwave in 30 second increments for upto 2 minutes. Place the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle and pipe on top of each croissant, with small drips coming down. Sprinkle generously with the dried raspberry and cornflakes that has been lightly crushed between your fingers. Enjoy the same day or upto two days.
- 9. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. If eating the next day, warm in a toaster oven before eating.
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